Computer networks, such as the Internet, have given rise to a wide variety of online marketplaces providing people with new ways to buy and sell goods and services, exchange ideas, and generally connect with other people. One service area in particular that has been significantly impacted by the Internet is job search services. The Internet has changed the approach that many people take when performing a search for a new job. Numerous online websites are dedicated to matching job seekers with job providers. Some of the online job matching services are directed to very specific markets, for example, matching computer programmers with short-term contract work.
Nearly all online job services suffer from the same general problem. Studies have shown that more than half of all jobs and consulting contracts are found when the job applicant is personally referred to the hiring organization, as opposed to when the job applicant responds to a job posting and/or applies directly with no previous connection to the hiring organization. From the perspective of a company or other hiring organization, although only a relatively small percentage of all job candidates are referred by someone in the company or hiring organization, these referrals may account for more than half of the people hired for jobs and consulting contracts.
Generally, online job matching services work in much the same way that a traditional newspaper classifieds section works. A company may post information about a job offering to a database that is accessible via a website hosted by the company or a third-party. Accordingly, potential job candidates may browse, research, or even apply for a job posted on the website. Typically, a job posting from an online job matching service identifies the posting organization (e.g., the organization offering the job) and/or the person responsible for the posting. In some cases, a job posting may even include the name of the person making the hiring decision.
Because most jobs are gained through personal connections, a smart job seeker may attempt to find someone with a connection to the posting organization or posting individual through people in the job seeker's social network. Currently, however, online job matching services do not provide any features or functions that facilitate leveraging one's social network while performing an online job search. Instead, a job seeker must use more traditional means of analyzing his or her personal network of contacts after he or she has identified a potential job opening of interest. Alternatively, a job seeker may turn to an online social networking service that he or she may belong to in order to conduct research of his or her social network, and hopefully identify someone within his or her social network who has a connection to the job posting.
Previous job matching services have implemented reputation systems that accrue reputation information by asking participants to rate other participants with whom they have worked or contracted. For example, such a reputation system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,567,784 to Hans Max Theodore Bukow. However, the type of reputation system described in the patent to Bukow only provides a job provider or a job seeker with the ability to contact a person who has provided reputation information. For example, the system does not provide a job provider or a job seeker with any insight into how he or she can gain access to a trusted source of information. Furthermore, many people who may be willing to provide a private endorsement may be reluctant to provide a public or formal endorsement or rating. Consequently, participants may find it difficult to obtain reputation ratings utilizing systems that rely exclusively on formal reputation ratings.